Former Regions Bank Executive Agrees to Plead Guilty in $5 Million Bribery and Wire Fraud Scheme

Former Regions Bank Executive Agrees to Plead Guilty in $5 Million Bribery and Wire Fraud Scheme

BIRMINGHAM – A former senior vice president at Regions Bank has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy charges in a $5 million bribery and wire fraud scheme, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Robert O. Posey and FBI Special Agent in Charge Roger C. Stanton.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office on Wednesday filed a plea agreement in U.S. District Court with PHILIP HENRY COOPER, 67, of Birmingham. As part of the agreement, Cooper pledges to plead guilty to conspiracy to solicit and accept bribes for steering Regions’ business to a company established by a co-conspirator, and to conspiracy to launder the millions of dollars the conspirators received as part of the scheme.

Along with his two co-conspirators, Cooper agrees to repay Regions $5.1 million, according to the plea agreement. Cooper also agreed to forfeit approximately $1.5 million he received from the scheme.

Cooper was indicted last year along with Richard Alan Henderson, 57, of Hoover, on conspiracy, bank bribery, wire fraud affecting a financial institution and money laundering charges. Henderson, who also was a senior vice president at Regions, is scheduled for trial on those charges in June.

A third conspirator in the case, Jesse Stewart Ellis, 56, of Hoover, pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy to commit bank bribery and wire fraud, and money laundering conspiracy. He is scheduled for sentencing June 26.

Henderson and Cooper served as senior officers of Regions Bank. Through a wholly-owned subsidiary, Regions Equipment Financing Company, Regions Bank offered business customers various financing tools, including equipment financing and lease options. Henderson was first assigned to be finance manager of REFCO and was later promoted by Regions Bank to REFCO’s chief administrative officer. Cooper worked for Regions Bank as REFCO’s asset manager.

According to Cooper’s plea agreement, he and Henderson recruited Ellis to establish a company that would enter an agreement with REFCO to provide residual value insurance, a type of insurance designed to manage asset value risk and provide favorable accounting treatment on leases for Regions Bank. Ellis had no experience providing residual value insurance. The defendants directed REFCO’s residual value insurance business to Ellis’ new company, and Ellis, in return, split the money paid to him with Henderson and Cooper, according to the charges and Cooper’s plea agreement. Cooper and Henderson concealed from Regions that they were receiving money as a result of directing residual value insurance business to the company Ellis established.

Between Sept. 2010 and Nov. 2015, REFCO paid Ellis’ company, Residual Assurance Inc., about $5.1 million. Henderson received about $1.8 million as a result of the scheme and Cooper received about $1.5 million, according to Cooper’s plea agreement.

In 2014, after initially receiving his share of the bribery money in cash, Cooper established a company named Capital Equipment Appraisal Service to receive his payments, according to the plea agreement. After May 2014, Ellis deposited most of Cooper’s share of the bribery payments into a Wells Fargo Bank account Cooper opened for that company. Cooper also had a part of his share of the money deposited into an account at Merrill Lynch, according to the plea agreement.

The maximum penalty for conspiracy is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty for money laundering conspiracy is 20 years in prison and a fine of $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction, whichever is greater. As part of the plea agreement, the government recommends a five-year prison sentence for Cooper.

The FBI investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorneys George A. Martin Jr., Henry B. Cornelius, and John B. Ward are prosecuting.

You’ve been defrauded? FraudsWatch.com tries to help as to denounce embezzlement, theft or if your identity has been compromised. I put at your disposal example, guide and guidance about fraud, scams and identity theft.

Related Articles

Former Lincoln-Way School Superintendent Indicted on Fraud Charges for Allegedly Misappropriating School Funds for His Own Benefit CHICAGO — The former superintendent of Lincoln-Way Community High School District 210 has been indicted on federal fraud [Read More]

Two Members of Billion-Dollar Venezuelan Money Laundering Scheme Arrested Two alleged participants in a billion-dollar international scheme to launder funds embezzled from Venezuelan state-owned oil company PDVSA using Miami, Florida real estate and sophisticated false-investment [Read More]

Common feel and taking note of info are the 2 most effective steps borrowers can take to defend themselves and their households from being victims of, or accomplices to, mortgage fraud. There are quite a [Read More]

Mortgage fraud has turned out to be more pervasive after some time and is a specific worry amid a financial subsidence. Change in lodging markets, property holders confronting abandonment and deceitful people searching for income [Read More]

About FraudsWatch.com

You’ve been defrauded? FraudsWatch.com tries to help as to denounce embezzlement, theft or if your identity has been compromised. I put at your disposal example, guide and guidance about fraud, scams and identity theft.

Today with modernization and lifestyle evolution, new forms of convenience and speed appear in our everyday actions, but the forms of theft and deception evolve in different forms. We truly want to believe that the [Read More]

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. This includes cookies from third party social media websites if you visit a page which contains embedded content from social media. Such third party cookies may track your use of the FraudsWatch.com website. We and our partners also use cookies to ensure we show you advertising that is relevant to you. If you continue without changing your settings, we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the FraudsWatch.com website.AcceptRejectRead More